MediaThe mass media (magazines, TV, movies and so on)
are
tending more and more to portray footwear as automatically (and always) required. We often
see the following:

Revisionist History

The Movie: "RobRoy".
The Setup: Early 18th-Century tale of Scottish hero of the people, known as RobRoy
The Costume Designer: Sandy Powell, whose credits include "Interview With the
Vampire," "Orlando," "The Crying Game," "Caravaggio"
and "Edward II."
..."Powell decided that, to modern eyes, men in kilts with bare legs "would have
looked a bit daft," so she put them in knee-high leather boots.
Highlanders actually
went barefoot while working the land; all the rain and mud would have made shoes
pointless. When they did wear shoes, moccasins without socks were it."

During the early episodes of The Waltons
(depression-era family life in Appalachia) the kids went barefoot (historically correct
for the time and place). Apparently, after some viewers complained (some kind of denial?),
the producer shod the kids.

Adulteration of Classic Stories

The recent Disney movie adaptation of Tom Sawyer
shows Tom barefoot only during one brief incident. This is not the character from
the classic.

A new Tarzan TV series "Tarzan: The Epic
Adventures" puts him wearing fur boots. Ye gods!!!

Sometimes there seems to be a rule ...

While watching Brady Bunch re-runs, we
noticed that they were always shod as soon as their feet touched the ground. Even in a
bedroom the shoes would be slipped on when getting off the bed just to cross to the other
side of the room.